Tottenham winger Andros Townsend has become the first Premier League player to
be charged with breaching Football Association betting rules.

The 21-year-old withdrew from the England squad for the Under-21 Championship and was offered the “full support” of the FA and Spurs in seeking rehabilitation whilst responding to the allegations.

Townsend, who made his Premier League debut in September and spent the second half of the season on loan at QPR, was charged in relation to what the FA described as “a number of betting offences”.

He was given until June 3 to respond, the day the England Under-21 squad flies out to Turkey for a training camp ahead of this summer’s tournament in Israel.

Townsend, who has played for his country at every level from under-16s, chose to withdraw himself from the travelling party, although England’s teams are also bound by a code of conduct that may have prompted the FA to act had he not done so.

FA rules prevent players betting on matches in competitions they are involved in, both domestically and internationally, regardless of whether they are involved in the game in question.

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It is understood the alleged bets were on fixtures in which Townsend was not involved and, therefore, there is no suggestion of match-fixing.

They could take in Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and England games, although not the Championship play-off final, about which Townsend posted on Twitter last week: “Might put a bet on a london club winning the championship playoffs! Have just got a feeling.....”

Tottenham, who are on a post-season tour of the Bahamas, declined to comment beyond the FA statement, as did representatives of Townsend.

However, QPR manager Harry Redknapp was quoted by Mailonline saying: “I will call him because I’m shocked to hear about it. I just wouldn’t have had him down as a gambler, but you don’t know what goes on when players leave the training ground.

“If I had been asked to picked 20 footballers who like a bet on the football, I wouldn’t have picked him, that’s for sure.

“I just didn’t think he was like that and I didn’t have any idea he liked a bet on the football.

“All I know is that he is a good kid and a talented footballer and I’m going to call him to make sure he’s okay.

“I never had a moment’s problem with him. He was a good professional and a good trainer.

“The main thing is that he didn’t bet on QPR’s matches by the looks of things, but it sounds like he’s got a real problem over something.

“I don’t know what drags footballers into these kinds of problems, but he will need some support after this.

“It’s a shame he’s had to pull out of the Under-21 squad, but if he needs help then that’s the right thing to do.”

That help, if required and accepted, will come from the Professional Footballers’ Association through its tie-up with Sporting Chance, as well as from the FA and Tottenham.

Sporting Chance was set up in 2000 by former Arsenal captain Tony Adams to treat sportspeople with alcohol, drug and gambling issues and among those it has helped is Adams’s former team-mate Paul Merson.

Townsend is far from the first player or official to be charged with a breach of FA betting regulations but his status as a Premier League footballer arguably makes him the most high-profile.

Rules preventing players gambling on matches in competitions in which they are involved have long been in place.

Four years ago, then FA chairman Lord Triesman unveiled plans for a total ban on betting in football in a bid to end any ambiguity over the practise and to protect the integrity of the Premier League and the English game.

The proposals came on the back of four players being fined and suspended earlier in 2009 for gambling on their own team's game in a suspected match-fixing scheme in League Two.

However, the changes were never implemented.

Townsend is considered one of the brightest young prospects in the English game.

His father Troy, a former player and semi-professional coach, is involved with mentoring youngsters with anti-discrimination group Kick It Out.